The battle over the future of chimpanzees in research has reached a critical point. Chimps are humans' closest extant relatives — and as such, they are arguably one of the best animal models available for biomedical investigations that have the potential to save countless human lives.

The ancient origins of Hepatitis are coming to light, thanks to virus fragments locked in the genomes of modern songbirds. A "fossilized virus" isn't one embedded in rocks, but rather in the DNA of the host, and this is the first-ever hepatitis-family virus discovered. It was found in the same location in the genomes…